Stolly Hill Runs 2010

A totally superb run from Arncliffe

21 or so miles and 4,500 feet

Arncliffe --> Old Cote Moor Top ridge line to the trig --> Buckden --> Buckden Pike --> Great Whernside --> Kettlewell --> up and around the south eastern corner of Hawkswick Moor --> Hawkswick --> Arncliffe

Route map

What a truly brilliant run, quite possibly my best route in fact :cool: and with totally clear weather that turned into blazing sunshine for the last third things couldn't have been better! I was running again with Rach, getting in some good pre Fellsman mileage and also recceing the Buckden Pike to Great Whernside bit of the Fellsman route.

After hacking up on to the Old Cote Moor Top ridge line and getting to the trig the descent down into Buckden was just fantastic - a sold two miles of downhill fast running over grassy banks with the odd muddy and rocky bits to keep you on your toes. Rachel, saddo that she is, was actually whooping and yahooing on the way down :D.

After Buckden we followed the little gorge towards Buckden Pike that follows Buckden Beck, which in itself is stunning with a miriad of little and big waterfalls and rocky knolls to clamber up. Once at the Buckden Pike trig we then scouted the Fellsman route from there to the trig on Great Whernside with absolutely stunning views to west of Whernside (far far distance), Ingleborough (far distance) Pen y Ghent, Plover Hill and Fountains Fell (distance) and then more to the south and much further away we could see Pendle too. Unfortunately I forgot my camera today (doh!) otherwise I'd have taken a gazzilion photos of it all.

Then a cracking descent into Kettlewell off of Great Whernside followed with the last climb from there being up and around Hawkswick Moor. From Hawkswick it was a gentle mile and a half trot through the fields full of lambs and sheep beside the river Skirfare back into Arncliffe. In the 'olden days' I'd have said "what a fantastic route for a fell race" but nowadays I'm damned if I'd like it to be a fell race :rolleyes: - its just too flaming good to waste on a 'mere' race :)

I was up Buckden Pike today Stolly, got to the trig at around 4.30 ish i think nice and quiet, came up past the mine and down those nasty stairs. Ran off course through the bogs, should've kept the jingle hole on my right.

... ahhhhhh, I am lying on the couch , sipping my sauvignon blanc, picturing our run today.....
.....sheer bloody perfection......
will post properly tomorrow but this afternoon/tonight, I dwell and remember....

The usual - up over High Hill and Warrendale Knotts and back

6 miles and 1,500 feet

I trotted around my bog standard default run yesterday evening, a run that I must do in one variation or another two or three times a week, but in completely superb weather. Absolutely beautiful :)

Route map


Looking towards Stockdale and Rye Loaf Hill from up on Warrendale Knotts

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9480/p4160136.jpg


A picture of an all serious and sweaty stolly, taken by standing the camera on top of the trig point

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/5528/p4160138.jpg


And finally this panorama piccy taken from the same place. To the left is all the scars :rolleyes: (honestly around here every single feature is a frigging scar; just in this one picture there are glimpses of Attermire Scar, Langcliffe Scar, Settle Scar, Back Scar and Great Scar but quite where one ends and another starts is anyone's guess), then Stockdale, Rye Loaf Hill and then High Hill on the right.

Bloody hell, this having a puppy malarky has meant that I've only just got round to posting Sunday morning's run....

Plover Hill and Pen y Ghent from Horton

10 miles ~ 2,000 feet

Route map

Horton --> Horton Scar --> Foxup Moor --> Plover Hill --> Pen y Ghent --> Hull Pot --> Whitber Hill --> Horton

I last did this route on 14th March when there was still shed loads of snow on the ground; it may have taken getting on for 2.5 hours start to finish at the time!! On Sunday though conditions were pretty much perfect, with the ground even on the ridge line from Plover Hill to Pen y Ghent being dry for the most part, and I pb'd it in some style, if I say so myself, in 1:40 and that even included 3 or 4 minutes of fannying around taking pictures. Just a brilliant brilliant run.


If you imagine the the Pen y Ghent~Plover Hill ridge in its entirity as Sphinx shaped, this is the view running from the Sphinx's arse (Plover Hill) to it's head (Pen y Ghent)...

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/9316/p4180143.jpg


The view of the descent coming off the trig point on Pen y Ghent (jesus if I taken a picture of this view once, I taken it a million times)

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/4558/p4180144.jpg

The track off of Pen y Ghent on Sunday........

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/2572/p4180145.jpg

And the same track on 14th March.....

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/2508/p3140020.jpg

Hi Stolly just looked at your Sunday run, I did the same area on Saturday, it was just out of this world, sun,sun,sun and the views, living so near you forget how good this area is, Littondale is so peaceful and after a long hard run you can get a "99" from the ice cream van, perfect day.

The 4 Peaks!!!

I was down to run the 3 peaks fell race on Saturday but my younger daughter had a crunch rugby game that I just couldn't miss so I, of course, had to knock the race on the head. (Ovenden U16's, her team, probably the best girl's rugby league team in Yorkshire, were playing Lancashire's best, Warrington, and it was a truly epic encounter - Ovenden were losing 22-20 with a minute left to play when my ickie bickie baby girl (huh?) scooted from 20 yards out, smashed through the Warrington line and dived to score the winning try!!).

She also clogged up my calendar on Sunday which left me, with two weeks to go until the fellsman, having no time for a long run at all over the weekend........ so I had today off for a run out instead.

....And decided to go all out with a last full on long 'un. Never mind the mamby pamby 3 peaks; this was the 4 peaks with 33% more peaks and getting on for the same in extra mileage: Beezley Falls, Gragareth, Yorda's Cave, Whernside, Ribblehead, Pen y Ghent, Horton and Ingleborough starting from and ending in Ingleton.

30 miles and 6,700 feet!

Here's the route map, with me running it clockwise. By the way it was a bleeding tough track running it that way round with the vast majority of the running being of the uphill variety - I'd estimate that by the time I reached Pen y Ghent trig, about 20 miles in, 17 of those 20 miles had been uphill miles! (Note to self, next time run it the other bleeding way round).

Absolutely brilliant though


Kingsdale before heading up Gragareth

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/420/p4260143.jpg


Whernside as viewed from the top of the sharp descent from Gragareth

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/9633/p4260156.jpg


Whernside again, this time not far from Yorda's Cave

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/5356/p4260157.jpg


Looking back towards Gragareth from the Whernside ridgeline

http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/2947/p4260165.jpg

Continued.........


Looking towards Ribblehead and Pen y Ghent from Whernside

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/6545/p4260166.jpg


Ingleborough viewed as I climbed Pen y Ghent

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/9622/p4260173.jpg


Fountain's Fell from the Pen y Ghent trig

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/4418/p4260179.jpg


Looking south as I came off the cliff side of Pen y Ghent

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/5774/p4260181.jpg

The whole route took me ages; 7 hours and 42 minutes in fact! Splits as follows:

Gragareth trig ---> 1:15
Whernside trig --> 2:30
Pen y Ghent trig --> 4:45
Ingleborough trig --> 6:57
Ingleton --> 7:42

awesome pics stolly and awesome miles...well done!

Good run Stolly congatulatios on some good mileage

And pass on my best wishes to miss mini Stolly for stuffing the lancs ;)